Abstract

Background: National standards for clothing designed to protect the wearer from the harmful effects of solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) have been implemented in Australia/New Zealand, Europe, and the USA. Industry standards reflect the need to protect the skin by covering a considerable proportion of the potentially exposed body surface area (BSA) and by reducing UVR-transmission through fabric (the Ultraviolet Protection Factor; UPF).

Objectives: This research aimed to develop a new index for rating sun-protective clothing that incorporates the BSA coverage of the garment in addition to the UPF of the fabric.

Methods: A mannequin model was fixed to an optical bench and marked with horizontal lines at 1 cm intervals. An algorithm (the Garment Protector Factor; GPF) was developed based on the number of lines visible on the clothed versus unclothed mannequin and the UPF of the garment textile. This data was collected in 2015-16 and analysed in 2016.

Please note the article has been peer reviewed and accepted for publication.
This Q1 article was Acceptedd online 8 September 2017. The link to the Accepted online article is http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjd.15938/full
The article has not yet gone to print but the Abstract should be uploaded to eprints. (Note the disclaimer at the bottom of first page of bjd15938.pdf - Accepted articles, which clearly states the article has been accepted for publication)

Faculty / Department / School:

Current - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Agricultural, Computational and Environmental Sciences